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A health insurance plan is a legal agreement entered into by an insurance company and an individual or an organization. As per the legal agreement, the insurance company agrees to pay a specified amount of medical expenses arising during the contract period in exchange of a payment termed as premium. The cost covered by the insurance company will purely depend on the premium amount and the type of Health insurance policy that you choose – for individual – or offered – for organization.
Before you decide on the exact type of health insurance plan you need or an organization need, it is always better to know the different coverage in market. It is good to know what you are eligible for and also the various benefits of that health insurance plan offered, which should help you to take the correct insurance plan.
Below is a short illustration to make the distinction between the individual and group health insurance more clearly:
1. Individual Health Insurance. Individual health insurance plans are designed for unemployed or self-employed people who paid premium in exchange for health insurance coverage.
Individual health insurance plans are expensive, because the cost involved in medical expenses is very high, the narrow spread of risk makes the risk factor of the insurance company become higher and the premium payment comes from a single individual. The individual who takes the health insurance also needs to go through certain medical tests (as per the insurance company) in order to get the health insurance plan, but under individual health insurance you can also cover for your spouse or children.
In relation with the high cost of an individual health insurance plan, the insurance company usually let you choose Health insurance plan that you need, so as to adjust with your budget and you can renew it annually as far as you need and you like.
2. Group Health Insurance. Group health insurance plan is designed for large number of people and in majority of cases for companies or organizations. Group health insurance is usually taken by company or organization for their employees as an added advantage for the employee and a benefit given by the employer. Since the premium amount is usually paid by the company or organization, majority of the employed people will have group health insurance plan.
In group health insurance, the insurance company covers everybody under the group and this effect in the larger span of risk which makes the risk factor of the insurance company become lower. As the insurance covered a lot of who are assumed to have the same level of risk, then no pre medical test is required for group health insurance. The previous condition plus higher receiving from a single source – whereas they are collecting premium from everybody in group – resulting in lower rate of premium amount, which is make sense for insurance companies as they are covering a large group of people and probably they will end up paying or covering medical expense for a relatively less number of people.
However, in a group health insurance the plan is selected by the company or organization for all the employees and incase you leave the company or organization where you work, you will not be entitled to claim the insurance benefit any longer.
In the end, I would recommend that every individual should have a health insurance plan. You might be in good health or rarely visit a doctor but nobody can predict what is going to happen tomorrow. One illness or even an accident can result in high medical expense which can upset your financial situation. However, just by paying a premium you can be assured that the amount specified by the insurance companies will be paid by them and you can live in peace.
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